When quality and service are paramount in turning

A defective part does not necessarily mean that the entire machine needs replacement. Eltec System takes care of that. The company has been specializing in the maintenance and repair of industrial drives and pumps for 25 years. Because striving for at least the same quality as the original is paramount in Eltec's operations, they recently chose The Lynx 300M series from Doosan supplied by Germond. A high-productivity lathe that marks the first step towards CNC and will ensure further growth.

Eltec System guarantees that the repaired parts will be better than before. And that opened doors at fine companies.

It began in 1994 by rewinding motors. In no time, founder and general manager Joe Huijgen managed to build Eltec System into a full-service provider in maintenance and repair of rotating parts. Always based out of Genk. "Throughout the 25 years we have been in business, we have grown systematically. I started all by myself on a piece of company land of 100 m². Today I am the proud employer of 45 employees, including about 20 technicians. Since 2008, we have been able to work from a brand new 4,500-square-meter building." Huijgen and his team owe this success mainly to the philosophy of always focusing on service and quality. "Even in difficult times, we kept insisting on this. We guarantee that the repaired parts will be better than before. And that opened doors at great companies like ArcelorMittal, Sappi, Nike, Total, Procter & Gamble, SKF, ABB ... We strive for the same quality."

Quality and Service

In order not only to guarantee quality, but also to be short on time, Eltec performs just about everything in-house. "Production downtime costs money. The faster we can deliver a repaired part, the faster our customers can earn money again. Being independent of suppliers then promotes speed. You control everything yourself," Huijgen points out this strategic choice. "But then you have to commit yourself to qualitative, reliable machines and suppliers who can provide the same service as we want to offer our customers. If something falters in our production, we must also be helped out of a jam immediately." The latest addition to the machinery park is a CNC lathe from Doosan. "A first introduction to CNC. After all, we recently became part of the Descours & Cabaud group. From now on, we will perform all machining for IMES on belts, for example. This totals about 6,000 per year, which allows us to take the first step towards automation."

First CNC machine

Joe Huijgen (left) and Raf Reekmans: "The CNC lathe from Doosan and Germond gives us the speed and accuracy to ensure our quality and productivity."

Technical director Raf Reekmans explains why it became Doosan. "Everything is still done conventionally here, so the first step was to explore the market. From the very first contact, we noticed that Germond understood the business and that we were also taken seriously." To arrive at the right machine, the starting point was the requirements of the IMES assignment. "In that, too, we received excellent advice from Germond. It eventually became the Lynx 300M series. A machine with compact dimensions that can still handle a wide range of pieces with a diameter of up to 370 mm and a length of up to 712 mm. We want to use the capacity that is still free in addition to the works for IMES for other assignments." Reekmans resolutely chose powered tools to work in one fixture for higher quality and productivity. In addition, he went for Siemens controls. "We wanted to keep the programming as simple as possible. It best matched the dialogue control that our employees are used to."

Best machine

For Reekmans, Germond's efforts were crucial in making the step from conventional to CNC turning as small as possible. "We have already received a lot of advice, for example on how best to build up our tool set. The experience they have with CNC lathes is evident in that. We needed the best possible machine for the new activity and we are convinced we got it with the Doosan Lynx 300M. It gives us the speed and accuracy to ensure our quality and productivity," Reekmans concluded.   ν